Rural Youth Europe is a European umbrella body for rural youth organisations. It was founded in 1957 and has 20 member organisations.

Rural Youth Europe aims to enhance the lives of rural young people through providing intercultural learning opportunities that promote advocacy and respect for others. Every year, the group organises three events that Macra na Feirme members would be familiar with, the spring and autumn seminars and also the European Rally, which the Irish delegation returned from recently following a fantastic week in Ratnieki, Latvia.

As this is the 60th anniversary, Rural Youth Europe organised a special conference for the heads of organisations and CEOs of their member organisations so chief executive Denis Duggan and I were delighted to have the opportunity to attend our first Rural Youth Europe event. The conference was held in Janeda, Estonia, and the theme of the conference was “Compass towards peaceful rural societies” and the topics for discussion ranged from brave leadership to the issues and challenges facing young, rural people in Europe. This is the first time a conference of this nature was organised and it highlights the importance that this year has for the organisation.

On the first day, following some interesting ice-breakers, the discussion focused on the challenges facing member organisations and rural people, in general, and despite the fact that there were countries of widely varying wealth and culture there, the issues facing us are remarkably similar across Europe. The topic of the conference was a follow-on from the themes of the spring seminar and the European Rally and this will also flow into the theme of the autumn seminar as Rural Youth Europe prepares to launch a campaign later this year when it marks its 60th anniversary.

History

Over the course of the week, there was also an opportunity to sample the cultural history of Estonia with a display of Estonian dancing taking place on the last night of the conference. The week concluded with the Rural Youth Europe general assembly (AGM). During the meeting, it was decided that the European Rally will be hosted by the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs in England. The general assembly also marked the end of former Leinster vice-president Paddy Delaney’s time on the board of Rural Youth Europe representing the Five Nations. Linzi Stewart from the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster has been elected to the board and will serve a two-year term.

I would like to thank Paddy Delaney for his service on the board of Rural Youth Europe on behalf of Macra na Feirme. He did an excellent job and this is reflected in the respect that is expressed for him from across all of the member organisations. I was delighted to be able to attend my first Rural Youth Europe event and I would encourage any member – who is offered the opportunity to travel on behalf of the organization – to grab it with both hands.